Islands' Sounder

OIFR saves home after guest house catches fire

Lieutenant Richie Harvey working to pull down boards at the house fire. / Colleen Smith Armstrong/staff photo

Orcas Fire responded to a guest house fire around 9 a.m. on March 16 on Pea Pod Lane in the Sea Acres area.

No one was injured in the blaze; all occupants were able to evacuate. The main home was saved after firefighters extinguished the fire in the guest house, which is totalled. It stands only a few feet from the primary residence.

"The house would have caught fire in a matter of minutes if we hadn't arrived when we did," Fire Chief Kevin O'Brien said.

Initially called in as a chimney fire, the cause of the structure fire is unknown. Fire Marshal Paul Turner speculated it was a plug-in heater.